Mysterious Play: New Priestess
by StillcaresaboutNerding
Summary: Follow Samantha as she goes into the Universe of the Four Gods. Will she be able to survive? Can she summon the god of the Ancient World? Will she be able to outwit the government of Qu-Dong's ever present want to take over the other three countries and save the one she's destined to protect? Find out.
1. Chapter 1

The Mysterious Play

The New Priestesses

Tests have never been my forte. No, indeed I much prefer real life scenarios to the grinding school life tests. Career and Life Management class can bite my ass, their tests are stupid. I sigh, looking down at my test results, bull shitted my way to a 100% once more. Seriously, if you're going to test me, at least give me something I can't pass through ample amounts of sugar-coated bull crap; coating or not, it's still bull crap no matter how I look at it.

Common sense should be a lot more common than it is really, but I'm pretty sure it died around the time some American woman spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald's… And Won. Christ, what was the world coming to when you can't tell that a liquid that's normal supposed to be hot… Is, well, hot. Don't answer that, for my sanity, please.

Walking down the familiar halls of my high school, I grab a seat at the "Usual Place" just outside the library, and wait for my other friends to get out of their classes. Specifically, I'm waiting for my best friend, Jessica. My other friends are special to me, don't get me wrong… Jessica just feels like she's my only true friend though. A few weeks ago, she had invited me to her house and we had had a weekend slumber party, that mainly entailed staying up to ungodly hours my body wasn't used to and playing Wonderland Online.

When I can afford my own laptop, I am so downloading that. The graphics are cutesy anime things and squirrels pose far more danger than a wolf… As do ants of all things. But I truly admire a game that can let me set it on remote for a few days and not have to actually control the character or the fighting until I damn well feel like it. Taking all the grind out of an Online MMORPG… If only World of Warcraft could do that, maybe I'd play my Blood Elf Paladins Kratos Aurion and Yuan Kafei more…. Thanks a lot Jessica for introducing me to Tales of Symphonia.

There's also the fact that while our friendship is still young… Only a few months to be exact. I feel like I've known Jessica my whole life. We share somewhat similar backgrounds, both from military families, both with at least one stepparent. I may have next to no real book smarts, unless I apply the hell out of myself, but I balance Jessica's genius book smarts for my invaluable life smarts. We're also new students to Sturgeon Composite High School, though I've lived in Alberta my whole life and the Edmonton Garrison is a very familiar place to me -my father rented out barracks, and later a PMQ (Personal Military Quarters) for a few months during my parents separation- Jessica has only been in the province twice in her life. As far as I've been told, her mother is still in Alberta and she had moved back to New Brunswick only for her dad to get posted to Edmonton… Such is the life of a military brat.

I smile at the memory of my first slumber party, and then I frowned; hearing the telltale whiny sigh of someone I had met in Choir class. Kayla Snow, oh God why me?

Pulling my DS out of my backpack and firing Kingdom Hearts 356/2 Days up, I looked at the raven haired beauty before me, wondering if this time it was one of the boys she was stringing along, or perhaps she had failed another test.

"Sup?" I asked quietly.

"Mmmm Not much, sup with you Sammy-Sam-Sam?" she asked me sounding somewhat depressed.

I hate it when people call me 'Sammy'.

"Meh, Roxas is being a mini-Cloud… As usual and Xion is missing… Again," I answered, shrugging off the nickname.

"I don't understand why you play that game Sammy," she said teasingly. She knows damn well why I like it.

"Because it's fun," I answer, looking over her… Yea something's bothering her… Better find out what. I power the DS back down, Saix and Axel can wait for me to go on the mission this might actually be important, "Seriously though, what's up Mickky?"

So long as 'Kayla' her real name doesn't slip past me… I should be able to pass whatever she has in mind for me. She smiles appreciatively at me. Something is up, I quickly turn my head heavenward, sending a private prayer to whomever is laughing at me for my bad choice in calling Kayla Snow a friend and ask nicely that this isn't a ploy for me to do her freaking homework again. This girl has no braincells for school, preferring to drink and drug herself into oblivion trying to forget that her happy life is just that, happy in lieu of forgetting that while her mother is rather overbearing with her faith and over protective of her only daughter she has a far better life than I have had since my forth birthday.

"I failed a test… History.. You know I don't have a head for it, you do though."

Oh for the love of everything. My only weakness… History. I sighed, and she smiled even more broader, if it was possible. I blinked and cursed back at the deity laughing at me.

"What kind of history?" I asked, intrigued, curious, and leery at the same time.

"Ancient," she trailed off giving me a look.

Oh God it was right up my alley…

"Which Ancient? Egyptian, German, Chinese, Russian, Greek…" I trailed off hoping for Egypt.

Screw you Yu-Gi-Oh! for making me love Egypt… Even though Yu-Gi-Oh! is about as historically accurate as the first Pocahontas movie disney put out… Or perhaps that was an unfair example, I like Pocahontas, and Disney really only like making movies for children and when they tried to give the populace what they wanted with a much more Historically accurate version -Skipping the whole religious conversion and possible rape, etc that actually happened to the real Pocahontas because again, Children's Movie- which flopped just as hard if not harder than the first -Still not as hard as The Black Cauldron-… Okay about as historically accurate as Peter Molyneux's Fable games… Though I love them too.

"Chinese," she answered, wavering thinking I wouldn't take to the bait that was dangled above my head so temptingly.

Fuck it, she got me.

"What do you have to do? Write a makeup exam?" I ask, settled with what fate has given me.

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort… I just need to do up a…" she trailed off here.

"What?"

"… A fifty page on their Astrological Mythology," she finished cringing.

Oooooo She's good… Damn good. She knows I can't resist Mythology, Ancient History, and Astrology together.

"What's your due date?"

"The end of next month"

That sounded odd… Looking at her, she gave me a sheepish, yet knowing smirk.

"He gave me a… Larger time to finish it because it's such a big project," she said putting almost unnecessary emphasis on the word "Larger". I cringed, yuck… If she's implying what I think she's implying… She must be higher than usual today.

"Consider it finished. Our usual terms?" I ask looking at her, before glancing past her and seeing her boyfriend and my hidden crush Dylan coming up to us. This day can't get any worse, can it?

"Oh Thank you Sam!" She shouts, pulling me into a back breaking hug.

"Gah!" My eyes bug out and I push on her shoulders to let her know she can get off me. Fake thanks has never been my thing.

Access to her laptop and the fact that she lets me keep any of the books I'll be needing her to purchase is. Hey, books aren't cheap and I'm through with handing over my hard work for nothing. At least she isn't bullying me for it. That would just be the icing on this 'friendship' cake we have going on here. Indeed it would.

"Hey baby what's up?" Dylan asks Kayla all the while staring at me.

I blush and look away, he hardly needs to know that I'm crushing like a school kid. Even if it's obvious, he hasn't said anything and I don't think anyone else has noticed yet. Besides, he's into busty, tall beauties like Kayla. I'm just a good female friend and someone that he can vent at when life is getting him down.

Oh what I do for the people I call friends.

Jessica never does this to me. She hates venting at me, feeling that I have my own issues to deal with and that she doesn't need to load my plate up with her problems. That's one of the things I love about Jessica, even if it drives me nuts. She can handle herself, but I wish she'd come to me for something… Anything… Lord knows I've vented my feelings at her… Well, mostly the silly happy ones that won't make her worry about me. The darker, more oppressive ones can all stay where they are.

"Nothing Honey-bunch," Urg gag me, "Sammy's just going to help me get my grade in History up again!"

"So," I start making eye contact with Kayla once more, "Do you have your laptop with you?" I ask with an almost eager sheen to my tone.

"Usual deal?" Dylan asks, looking at me smiling knowingly, "Just let me know what books you'll need and I'll go get them next period."

And this is why we're friends, I smile, "Good. I'll run a google search on the material now… I shouldn't really need books that are to expensive… And I might be able to find a good deal at a used book store if you can drag me with you. I have next class free… I… Couldn't afford to go on the trip," I finish looking away sadly with an embarrassed blush.

I hate giving them hints that my mother and I are struggling, even though living with David is okay. Saving money shouldn't be this difficult for someone that only ever goes to the base's Tim Horton's when David asked her to go for a pre-dungeon raid coffee… Double Cream; Double Sweetener for him, an Ice Capp for my mom and an Extra Large Earl Gray tea for me with two milk and three sugar. Especially since David or mom pays for that… Not having a steady job is hard when all the money you make goes to your mom so she can pay bills.

Dylan blinks at me, "Why didn't you tell me? I'd have given you the cash."

"Because I didn't really want to go," I lied through my teeth.

Me not wanting to go to Telus World of Science to see a History exhibit? That was more bull crap than my earlier sugar-coating my way through a CALM 20 test. Luckily, Kayla decided then was the best time to start playing tonsil hockey with Dyaln… Apparently, Kayla thought I was getting to friendly with her man again. Ah well… He'll be distracted to see through my lie.

A sigh from behind me caused me to jump. Turning around I saw that my best friend Jessica was standing there with a look of exasperation on her face. Looking at Kayla to see that she and Dylan had moved a little ways down from us to have 'Privacy' while they made out in the school hall with Kayla's laptop perched on the sill of the "Usual Place's" window. Picking the laptop up and sitting down with it, I booted the thing up and looked at my exasperated friend.

"How are you today Jess?" I ask sheepishly.

"Fine, you?" she asks.

"I'm good… Doing a report for Kay- Er," I glance over my shoulder only to find that my raven haired friend and my dumb male friend have vacated the usual place. Thank Fuck for that. "Kayla… Who decided to fail a test I told her to study for."

"And why are you doing her homework?"

"Because the subject was to interesting to pass up… And because chances are will notice it's me and my ramblings and fail her completely."

"Pfff, you sly dog," Jessica said, sounding almost proud with our conspiracy… She would no doubt be telling Mr. Beach tomorrow about Kayla's dealings, "the test she took today was the midterm. If he does notice, she'll fail the class… Again. It'll teach her a lesson if anything."

"Yep!" I say with a returning smirk of conspiracy, "I don't want her to fail… But I won't lie by saying the material bored me… It's fascinating."

"Ancient History I take it?"

"Chinese Astrological Mythology," I answer back.

"You've got your work cut out for you… That's all Zodiac stuff I'll bet," Jessica stated with a huff, which blew her long bangs out of her face.

"Just the way I like it," I answer.

"Now," Jessica started, as if not sure how to broach the subject, "You know me; I hate prying…"

"Yea… If you don't want to don't. But if you do go ahead Jess, I'm your open book."

"Why… Didn'tyoutellmeaboutthetrip?" she said rushed.

"Huh?"

"Why… Didn't you tell me about the trip?" she repeated slower, looking away and blushing like a tomato.

Wow, she's so cute… But really bad at this.

I chuckle, "I… Didn't want to," I pause awkwardly looking away from her, "bother you with my problems… After all, it'll come back eventually." I finish with a smile, "and by then I can go whenever and however many times I want."

"A-Alright," she says deciding to drop the subject.

Oh Jess, you aren't good at being a sweetheart but you defiantly try. My heart pounds softly when I look her over, heh, my best friend is so cute. Whoever decides to date her had better treat her right… Or her dad won't be the thing they'll have to worry about… Who am I kidding? With me as a friend, she'll probably never get a date because the boys will know I will mother hen the hell out of her and if they so much as make her look disappointed, I'll tear them a new one right through their ears.

The computer prompts me for a password, I cringe as I type in "MikkyDylan4EVAR" into the box and breath a sigh of relief when it logs her in. I hope to never have to type that in… And with Kayla's current track record when the next month is over, I won't have to. Hell, maybe by the time this month is over I won't have to and the password will be changed into something sensible like "RainbowBunnies16".

"I know that look," oops, Jessica saw me cringe, "What's her password this time? VanillaBDSM?"

"Nope, I kinda wish," I say looking my friend over, "It just so happens to be Mikky-Dylan-Four-Ev-Ar" I finish phonetically.

"Ick," Jessica states, "She has no taste… And I have no idea what was possessing you when you brought her to the Usual Place in the first place, Sam."

"Again, Jessica," I say looking into her beautiful Hazel eyes, "I won't lie to you. I have no idea why she's my friend, but she doesn't seem to be taking the hint."

Oh the joys of High School.

* * *

There, first chapter should be up. I'm taking a break thanks to Writer's block on Finding Wonderland. Just for a little while... I plan on having it getting back up by the time NaNoWriMo is done. This by the way, being my submission for said NaNoWriMo challenge. The chapters I post today will be my work over the last five days... With chapter breaks in places where I've paused to quickly check my word count.

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed.

~Stillcaresaboutnerding


	2. Chapter 2

Jessica passes me a large can of iced tea.

"I think I love you," I say with my eyes going misty.

"Pffff Yea right," she say blushing, "I just know you to well. Did you at least eat breakfast this morning?"

"Yea," I say blushing, "David made it… Mom was… As usual at work by the time I got my butt out of the basement."

"Eh you were probably pretty tired. Insomnia strikes again?"

"Kinda, just decided to try and read The Similarian again."

"The … Uh… Who wrote that again?"

"J.R.R. Tolkien," I answer giving her a look that could sour milk.

"Isn't that the one you said was so dry you could put it at the bottom of the Marinas Trench, and it would take all the liquid out and still be dry?"

"… Yes."

"Why are you reading it?"

"Because… Lord of the Rings that's why."

"I see," she said giving me a look that said she didn't believe me for a moment, and truly thought I just didn't want to talk about my nightmares.

She let it drop at any rate.

Jessica is cool like that… When we had our sleep over, and I inevitably fell asleep and started both talking and later screaming in my sleep, she explained it to me when I woke up. Didn't judge me… And still invited me over for the next weekend. Sipping the amazing tea, I look at Jessica sipping a juice box quietly doing a check over her class work.

"Oh yea," I started getting Jessica's attention, "I passed that CALM test."

"Oh? By how much?"

"Top grade, see," I say, handing her the paper for her to scrutinize.

"You have difficulty with the words "Believe", "Curious", "Opinion", and … Is that supposed to be "Purpose"?" she asked squinting at the page.

"Oh God, what did I write?"

" 'Porpoise' you wrote 'porpoise'… Mrs. Caling is either going to think you're secretly still watching Yugioh Abridged… Or that you want to put a Brooklyn accent on words that seriously don't need it."

"I… Still actually watch Yugioh Abridged," I say sheepishly whilst she glares at me for my childishness.

"Well," Jessica started, "at least I know you're an annoying Kuribo."

"Hey! I didn't write 'Do da la la' anywhere on that page!"

"No but," she flipped the page over, "You drew a boatload of random Yugioh cards, Kuribo included, wrote 'Ezio is a renaissance tool bag', 'The pie is a fake, the cake is a lie', 'The door is my greatest enemy… and I'm not even kidding', and 'I'd rather be questing' on the back… Oh, and you drew something I can only describe as that one guy from Kingdom Hearts as a dog howling at a heart… Did she even notice?"

"N-No actually… I was surprised… And that's Saix by the way."

"You're an idiot, Sam."

"A loveable idiot?" I asked tilting my head towards her smiling.

She smacked me with the paper lightly, "Hardly… Just an idiot."

Her smile told me otherwise.

"Sooo," I start, "How are you doing in class?"

"Better than you," she says mockingly.

"Ouch, you wound me with your words fair lady"

"Only, it's true"

"I can be smart too!" I huff making a quick mental note on the books I'll be getting today. Perhaps I'll get Dylan to stop at the old book inn. They usually have some pretty wacky books for great prices.

"I'll give you that… Your learning curve is a heck of a lot steeper than mine. Where mine will quickly grasp a concept it will stay there at that concept… You take a while to get the concept, but are quicker at using it to learn new things… And I don't have the patience for History or language classes… Seriously, you've taken what… Three language courses, CALM, Choir and History for this term and that's it? Lucky you got Math, Science, English and Social out of the way last term."

"Well, CALM is a full year thing as is Choir… and I decided to take German, Chinese and Italian this year… and well… I have a full-ish schedule that way." I gave up on explaining.

"Nah I get it… You would have taken Japanese too if Choir wasn't a massive thorn in your side."

"Well, I did take it in my last school… With my older brother William…" I trailed off leaving the memory in the past with a strained blink.

She didn't comment on my little slip. I… Will probably never see my brothers again. In a broken family like mine, making the choice to live with my mother was probably the breaking point in my relationship with my brothers. But mom needs a chance too, my brother's had theirs and they squandered it for nine years. I'll give my mother and them time to prove that we can be a family and make my decision.

I pray nothing happens to my stepfather David when he gets posted to Afghanistan this summer coming. If he could not go, it would make my mother and I happy. I think I've finally started to view him to be my father. Not my biological father because I can't change who that is… Nor would I want to. He may be a bad person, but I'm still half of him, and half my mother. I plan on taking the good with the bad. If I ever have a child. They will never have to live the way I have. I wouldn't wish it on my greatest enemy.

Closing the laptop, I look to Jessica who is smiling over my childish doodles. Yea, yea you're a far better artist, I get it. I smirk at her thinking of a retort to her unusual interest in my 'Art'.

"Want me to frame it for you?" I ask smiling.

"Pffffff I'll put it on my fridge Sam. A place of honour just for you."

"You win," I say bowing my head to the comeback queen, "I walked into that didn't I? Only test I can pass like that is freaking CALM and Religion thank god this is a public school"

"Didn't you have to take Religion in your last school?"

"Yep, mandatory for my High School Diploma. Here, they don't even have an option to take religion… How messed up is that?"

"You've obviously only ever gone to Catholic school…" she retorts.

"Pretty much, except for that three month stint in a school out in Sherwood Park… I don't remember it much, only that we had to take a taxi to it every day and that Daniel, Steven, William and I were all in the same class room for eight hours… My own personal hell… But at least the teacher stitched my Molly Doll's smile back on," I explain smiling at the memories of seven year old me.

"Oh God," Jessica starts, "You had a Molly Doll?"

"…Yes."

"That's…. So cute!"

"My brothers hated her too," I said laughing, "I wouldn't play with them if I had Molly with me after they ripped the stitching on her face."

"Pffff you loser"

"I also had a Luna Ball… And the Anastasia CD… And the Disney McDonald's CDs"

"You only got the last three because your mom worked there," Jessica said with a huff, "I had the Luna Ball too… I was disappointed that it didn't follow me around like it did with Rini."

"So was I! It was so unfair!"

"I know, right? Good times, Good times."

Off goes the lunch bell. Aw I was just starting to have fun with Jessica.

"Oh, there's the bell… What class do you have now?"

"Some people," Jessica said giving me a look as she stood gathering her things quickly, "Have Mrs. Devolder after lunch and I am one of them."

"Ohhh 'Devo the Evo'," I said referring to my old math teacher's 'nickname', "That means your last class is with Mrs. Hutchings, right?"

"Yep! Biology Lab today too!"

"Luckyyy~"

"You were supposed to go on a class trip today," she said sadly, "what'll you be doing for the rest of the day, seeing as you're free?"

"Well, Dylan's taking me with him to get the three books on my list," I started, "Afterwards I'll be in the library working on the project… Wanna come to my house after school?"

"Yes please," she said sheepishly, "If it's okay with David and your mom. My dad's going to be kinda late today."

"It's probably fine, Dave and mom are cool… If you need to call your dad, you can probably stay for the weekend too…"

"Oh yea, it's Friday," Jessica said tilting her head, "I don't see my dad having any real problem with that… It might even save him some time. Should I text your mom and ask? Or do you want to?" she asks, handing me her cell phone.

"I'll do it, tell me her reply later, ok?" I say quickly sending my mom a message that it was me asking if Jess could come over possibly for the weekend, before handing the phone back to my friend.

"Cool I'll let you-"

A buzz sounded, followed by the voice of Albert Wesker.

"Seven minutes, Seven minutes is all you should spare for your little cretin caller."

"It's your mom. She says it's fine. Cool Slumber party is a go!"

"I forgot I had given you those things…"

"I… Hate Resident Evil," Jessica said, "But the joy of hearing someone call whoever calls me a cretin is just to much to pass up."

"But… I call you," I say with a pout.

"I know," she says smirking, "Do you even know what a cretin is?"

"A stupid person," I answer raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, you want to write a book eventually. Of course you'd have a large vocabulary… Not that you show it in school… What with your typos."

"If you're bringing up the Clock incident again," I start, blushing madly, "I swear he is from Iceland! He collects those things!"

"Only… He isn't and doesn't," she said smiling at my dismay.

"Bah! Get to class before Devo closes and locks the door to her dungeon," I sputter, waving my friend off.

Jessica smiles, flipping her long dark brown hair before skipping -Yes. Skipping.- off to her next class.

I sigh, friends are hard. But I still like Jessica the most. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I relax at the Usual Place, smiling at the antics of the people I've met since moving in with my mother. No, I wouldn't even trade Kayla for the world. She teaches me a valuable lesson, 'Don't do drugs… Ever.' I chuckle darkly to myself and wait for Dylan to get over from the front office, waving Kayla to her next class.

"So, got your list?" he asks, looking for all the world a guy that was either just mauled by a loving golden retriever or maybe a guy that was just throughly kissed by his girlfriend. I can't tell.

"Yea just three books… And I might be able to find some more at another store, but I'd need to get there."

"Let's go then," he says holding his hand out for me. I smile and lightly take his hand. Dylan you fail at being knightly, but I'll give you this at least: You know how to make me smile.

"Indeed."

Quickly letting go of his hand, I follow him closely to his car, hopping into the passenger seat. He starts the engine and drives off, towards the nearest bookshop in .

"Doesn't your mom work at the McDonald's near Chapters?" Dylan asks while switching into a turning lane.

"Yea, but at this time she's outside the Youville home. Waiting for 3PM in the Volkswagen," I answer tilting my head towards the aforementioned senior's home.

"She works two jobs?"

"Yea…" I answer awkwardly.

"Hn," Dylan replies letting the car drift back into science.

"Are you sure you don't mind the arrangements between Kayla and me?" I ask, looking out the window.

"Eh, I don't mind them, just don't put to much pressure on yourself to fix her fuck ups Sam."

"Okay," I say quietly.

"So," he starts pulling into the Parking lot at Chapters, "Plans for the weekend?"

"Heh, Jessica's sleeping over."

"Pff you two are really close for people that have only really been friends a few months. Do you even have any classes together?"

"Not a one. She's way smarter than me," I answer.

"You're smart too Sam."

"I suck at strategy games…" I trail off remembering Jessica saving my sorry ass in Battle for Middle Earth… I still feel bad for the elvish team that was almost decimated because of me. Tolkien would be ashamed and angry with me if he knew I'd bet money on it.

Green Day's 'Do you know the Enemy' started playing I looked over at a sheepish Dylan who was pulling out a cell phone, whilst turning off his car.

"Sup, babe?" he asked putting a finger to his lips asking me to be quiet, "I'm at McDonald's… No… Chapters is next… Sam needed something from her mom… I know… I know… Sigh… Babe, I know alright? … I love you too… Okay… Okay… Bye babe."

"That was weird," I say watching him huff and put away the phone.

"Yea… You seriously need a phone Sam."

"What did she want?"

"To remind me about my leash."

"WHAT!?"

"Not that kind of leash, you pervert!" Dylan says smirking at me, "A… Uh… what's the word?"

" 'Metaphorical'?" I ask, blushing.

"That's the one!"

"Huh," I state.

"So… I'm going to run over to McDonald's… Want an Apple Pie?" he asks.

"Fuck yes, please," I say.

"Heh, knew it… Here," he says handing me ten twenty dollar bills, "keep the change Sam. I'll be right back, I promise."

"Okay," I say, planning to put whatever change is left -probably a lot- into my mom's purse later tonight. I hop out of the car and close the door, Dylan quickly drives off. towards the McDonald's to fetch whatever it was Kayla wanted, an apple pie for me and probably a coffee for himself.

I run from there into the store, finding an employee I hand her the list.

"Do you think you could help me find these three books really quickly?" I ask politely, "I'm not in a rush, but I have to get back to school in Sturgeon County…"

"No problem, they're in the cultural section," she says smiling and leading me there.

I'm a little well known among the staff at this Chapters, they may not know me by name, but they know that I always call to compliment the staff, and that when I come I don't waste their time when they help me. A few staff members have apparently gotten promotions because of the random compliment calls. But really, I love this store and all the people that work in it.

Their cultural section is a little smaller than the Chapters in the West Ed (Western Edmonton Mall for those that know nothing about Alberta…) but as a stand alone, it's still bigger than the cultural section in, say, the North Western Edmonton's stand alone chapters… And it's defiantly bigger than the one on Whyte Ave… Which I've always found weird because that Chapters is three stories tall. At any rate, the cultural section is fused with the Mythological section and the Historical section on the far back wall. The staff member is swiftly going through the section, glancing over my list and grabbing the three books for me.

"There we go, anything else today?" she asks smiling. I glance at her name tag.

"No thanks, Christina, but thank you anyways," I smile back at her.

She nods and excuses herself to go to the aid of a confused looking mother with a little one. I smile at the child who grabs the little paperback and hides behind his mother's skirt all the while still trying to stare at me. I nod at the little one and head to the cashier.

"This is everything today?" an older man asks me.

"Yep"

"Did you bring your rewards card?"

"N-no I didn't," I answer.

"That's fine I know you," he says smiling at me, "That'll be twenty, please."

"Huh?" I ask looking over the books again… I was expecting it to be closer to fifty.

"Well, with the iRewards card, the sale that the books are already on is almost doubled," he explains.

"The books are on sale?"

"Yes my dear."

"Oh…" I say pulling out a twenty and handing it to the man, "I didn't notice… Sorry about that."

"That's fine, did you want a bag to put them in?"

"Sure please."

Handing me the bag with books I leave the store, to see that Dylan's car is waiting for me at the front. He's holding a cup of something and waving me forward…

… That sly bastard went to Second Cup.

I scurry into the car and look at him. He smirks and hands me what smells to be a hot chocolate.

"Where to now?" he asks.

"Grandin Tower," I answer.

"Isn't that close to where your dad lives?"

"Yea… But I can find a few harder to locate books for really cheap in the Shava Book Store," I answer, "Besides, dad doesn't leave the house unless my brothers have hockey or if Steven has a tournament… and those are both nighttime things. I can deal with being that close for a little while," I say determined.

"Alright," he answers looking at me from the corner of his eye as he pulls away from Chapters and gets onto the main drag of St. Albert.

The short drive through the small town goes by as quickly as my anxiety rises. I hate the Grandin area of town. I bite my lower lip and try to keep what composure I have left. Sipping my hot chocolate, I find that whoever made this makes it like I would make it, extra chocolaty. It coats my throat with it's little piece of bliss and warmth… Delicious.

Dylan pulled into the parking lot in front of the little strip mall that has defiantly seen better days. On the far side from where we're parked is the movie theatre I remember my parents taking me to see Mulan… But that was in happier times before I had to grow up and realize that life isn't fair. The memories of this mall still burn strong for me. I half wonder if my younger brother Daniel is skipping school and wandering the halls here… Then again, probably not… Dad would kill him.

"Want me to run in?" he asks.

"Nah, I got this, just," I pause looking at him," wait here, Okay?"

"Fair enough."

I hop out of the car again, Dylan pulls out his phone and begins texting rapidly… Probably to Kayla. Eh, who cares? They can go and have bunnies for all I care. Dylan is my friend, and that's all I plan on him being. Even if he and Kayla's relationship turns sour as it's almost doomed to be on the premisses of being a High School Relationship… And the fat that they have about as much compatibility as a goldfish and a barracuda… Kayla being the latter.

* * *

Well, another chapter. You may be wondering when I'll be getting to the meat and potatoes? As soon as I have more than three hours of sleep under my belt. (Meaning I'm posting and crashing for the night.)

Again, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

~Stillcaresaboutnerding.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking into the now dingy book store, I wandered the aisles to the back curtain. Here were the special, rare books. I was one of the few people that had been coming here for years long enough that I was practically a staff member. Beyond the curtain, I was sure I could find a few more books about the subject matter… And possibly another for my own tiny collection.

Waving back at Mike, the overly grandfatherly figure to me, he nodded and I pushed past the curtain, walking into the back room that was little more than a closet really. The music in the bookshop was muffled to an almost inaudible level once the curtain closed behind me, but it was no matter, I've never been scared of this musty book smelling room. It was probably my favourite room in the whole mall. Nothing could beat the smell of old books.

Scanning the books before me, a flash of red makes me look to my left. Sitting inconspicuously for the world to see was a small red book. I slowly grabbed a small red leather tome, taking care not to damage it. Glancing the title over, only to find I couldn't read it. The characters looked like old chinese to me.

Great, I may have found the holy grail of Chinese Mythology and I can't even read the title. This was a job for Mrs. Yuki -the elderly Chinese/Japanese teacher- when I got back to school. Looking the other books over, I sighed. No new ones for my collection. Ah well… I figure I might be able to make some money if I manage to translate the book… Unless someone else has beaten me to the punch, you never know with rare books.

Leaving the room, and walking to the counter I look out the window of the store and quickly duck out of sight. What the hell is my father doing here at this time of day? And then I see my grandmother.

"Everything okay Sam?" Mike asks quietly.

"Y-yea… Sorry Mike.. Just this," I say handing him the tome.

"Hmm?" he asks taking the book in hand, "The Universe of Four Gods?"

"You can read old chinese?" I ask looking up at him before looking out the window again. Coast clear for now I stand back up from the floor.

"You hit your head hun?" Mike asks looking me over for any bumps, "It's written in English."

"Huh?" I state looking at the red tome again. Well, what do you know… Weird I could have sworn it was in Chinese… I must be more tired than I thought.

"At any rate, since I don't remember ever having this stocked," he started, looking at me with concern, "you can just take it Sam," he finishes, handing me the book.

"Are you sure?" I ask, this could be a very expensive book for all I and Mike know.

"Yes I'm sure… Now skip on out of here and back to school you ruffian, before your father and grandmother come out of the bank next door. Come back soon," he says, ruffling my dirty blonde hair softly.

"Thanks Mike."

"I didn't see you either." he promises.

"You're amazing Mike," I say with a smile as I gear up.

I flee from the bookshop avoiding looking into the little bank just incase my father sees me running out of the mall. Hopping down the stairs three at a time, I jump into Dylan's car and breath out a sigh of relief.

"What's up?" Dylan asks.

"Let's just go I'll explain on the way back to school," I say watching him shift the car into drive.

When we're on the highway back towards school, and out of St. Albert limits, he looks at me while I sip my chocolate.

"What happened Sam?"

"Dad and Grandma came in to do some banking I guess." I answer.

"Ah… So, what's the book about?"

"Not sure," I reply, "It's called 'The Universe of the Four Gods' though… From what I remember on mythology this is a Chinese legend."

"Dare I be bored enough to ask?"

"Not really… Just know that the Heavens are ruled by four beast creatures, one for every cardinal point. and they -the gods- rule over seven constellations each… It's basically a way of telling what time of year it is from which constellations are out… I think" I try and fail to explain, "I'm a little sketchy with my Chinese Mythology but I'll be learning the crap out of it until the end of next month so ask me again then, ok?"

"I probably won't but I'll say I will if it makes you feel better," Dylan said. I could hear the smirk in his voice as I sipped the chocolate again, looking out the window at the farmland.

"Wanna play 'Hey Cows'?" I ask smiling at him.

"You mean 'Hey Kayla' right?"he sarcastically replies smirking at me.

"Hardly," I answer, "Fine, don't play an emasculating car game with me," I challenge as I roll down the window.

"How is 'Hey Cows' emasculating?" he wonders aloud.

"Well, try yelling it."

"Urg… I'm not getting out of this am I?"

"Nope."

"Fine," he sucks in a breath, "HEEEYYY COWS"

Not a one turns it's head.

"Childs play are you even trying?" I ask smirking.

"What the fuck?"

"Watch a pro Dylan, and learn," I say taking a breath, "HEY COWS!" I shout in as high a pitch my little soprano voice can make.

All the cows look towards the strange sound that is my voice.

"How.. How did? How did you do that?" Dylan asks perplexed.

"They're used to people yelling at them like you did," I explain, "But they aren't as accustomed to a high pitch."

"That's cheating," he accuses.

"Nope, it really isn't," I answer, "You just need to pull your voice like you've just been kicked in the balls."

"That is emasculating," Dylan states stunned with the information.

"Yea… It's called having three brothers you momma's boy."

"I am a momma's boy." Dylan affirms my accusation with all serious, "I fucking love my mom she's the best."

"Eh," I state, "Your mom's okay… Scary. but okay," I say.

"Not as scary as your mom," Dylan barks with a laugh.

"Fair enough," I concede as we pull into the cow corral that is the school's parking lot, "Thanks again Dylan… Are you sure you want me to keep the change?"

"Yes." he states leaving no room for argument from me.

Ah well, at least I can put money in my mom's wallet, I smile at him.

"Why is a nice guy like you always such a jerk to other people?" I ask.

"Because I need to be," he simply states, "Just… Don't tell Kayla that."

"My lips are sealed that you're a nice guy… And a momma's boy."

He laughs and I smile. The bell for finial class goes off.

"You're just in time for your last class Dylan, look at that, you thought you could skip."

"Heh maybe," he smiles, "what's your plan?"

"Getting started on the project, of course," I reply happily, "fifty pages don't just write themselves now, do they?" I ask, brushing my bangs out of my eyes… Stupid hair.

"God Sam," he starts, "If it was me it would never get started… Let alone finish."

"Yea well, that's the reason you passed English last term… Because I was in your class," I state sarcastically.

"Exactly why I want you to keep the change," he replied smoothly, "I would have had to repeat it for a third time."

"For someone that only speaks English," I start, "You sure as hell don't have a grasp of it."

"Me Buy Milk," he says in a way to make me cringe.

"Again Dylan," I say, pushing imaginary glasses up my nose, "The trick is to take the other person out of the sentence; 'Me buy milk'? I think not… 'I Buy Milk'…"

"Grammar Nazi," he mutters.

"I heard that," I say giving him a cold look whilst smiling.

"But seriously, get your ass to class… Oh and give me that pie, it's been teasing me this whole time."

"Oh yea I forgot I bought that," he says handing me the confectionary.

"Uh huh," I say pulling the apple goodness out of the box, "And I'm pregnant with quintuplets"

"Are you?" he asks, "Damn I thought you were a sweet and innocent virgin, who's the lucky bastard I have to kill?"

I blush embarrassed that he's teasing my virtue, "You asshole! You know I'm being sarcastic!"

"Never said I was a nice guy"

"Get to class!" I shout as he runs off away from his car and me.

No one locks their doors here. Idiots, the lot of them. I huff and quickly fix myself, gathering the books and the red tome with my backpack before leaving the car. Closing the door a bit harshly, I walk into the school while wolfing down the apple pie and speed walking to the library. I'll be writing the report on Kayla's laptop, but for now I can quickly search up the red book and see if it bears any significance to the project at hand. Yea, I'll keep telling myself that. I procrastinate the hell out of looking things like the red book up.

Sitting down at the Usual Place, changing my mind suddenly. I pulled Kayla's laptop out of the bag she had left for it and booted it up again. Entering the password, I quickly made myself a second server on her laptop. Logging out of Kayla's side of the laptop, I logged into the new one and opened a word document. I titled it, 'The Universe of the Four Gods' Seems like as good as a title to begin with. Opening a web browser, I quickly lose myself, making notes and taking quick facts about Ancient China down. Soon forgetting about the little red book.

* * *

Annnnd that's it for now. I'll be posting again later, probably the same day if I can manage it... Work is being rather rude about my shifts right now, but C'est la Vie~

Hope you enjoyed~

~Stillcaresaboutnerding


	4. Chapter 4

A floating feeling surrounds myself as I blink. Huh? Did I fall asleep or something? Looking around I can feel the weight of my body, to heavy to move for the time being. My surroundings are dark. Red, blue, silver and yellow light filter and shine through like stars. It's actually kinda pretty here… In a spacey, otherworldly kind of way. Even though I can feel my body, I can't feel anything beneath myself, leading me to believe that, at least for now I am indeed asleep. I hope Jessica wakes me up before I miss the bus.

I huff and try to enjoy this odd little dream. A loud screech, jars my senses. What the hell was that? A flash of red whooshes past me, blinking rapidly at the flash that is flying to and fro I take a closer look. A… Bird? It screeches at me again, and fly straight for me, before it can hit me; darkness flashes before my eyes once more.

"Hey, loser, wake up."

"Ah!" I start, jolting up and falling to the ground at the Usual Place, "Ow my ass… What happened?" I ask, looking up to the person that woke me.

"You were drooling, that's what," Jessica says, wiping my face with a napkin, "Geez, what are you four?"

"Heh, maybe," I tease, taking her caring for me with a grin, "Thanks for waking me up… Did we miss the bus?"

"Not yet, class just ended, we have twenty minutes… You okay?" she asks looking concerned.

"Yea, just a little sleepy," I answer stretching, "Shall we get our seat?"

"Yes, I don't want to have to walk like you did that one day… How long did that take you again? Two hours?"

"More like four, mom freaked out at me for it too," I say standing and gathering the items I had scattered in my fall… The laptop's missing… Kayla must have grabbed it… What's this? A note… Guess she did grab it. Ah well.. Not like she can do anything to the new side of her laptop. Not like she would anyways. At least she has it, I don't have to worry about explaining a random laptop to my mom.

Jessica grabs the little red book, "What's this?"

"Apparently the 'Universe of the Four Gods'," I answer, "I got it from that old book store in ."

"I see, comon let's go," she says handing me the red book, now bored with it.

The bus ride was uneventful as usual if not completely packed with the usual rowdy teenagers that graced its confined space. I give Jessica a look of utter boredom, while she pulls out a clipboard and starts making short lines.

"What should I draw?" she asks.

"Uh…" I start, "I don't know… How about… A bird?"

"What kind of bird?" she asks making the basic shapes.

"A Dodo," I say smiling.

"Oh, so I'm drawing you," she retorts/

"Rude!" I reply, "I have more sense than a dodo… I'm not an extinct species yet."

"Keyword 'Yet'," Jessica replies.

"Alright then… How about a… Phoenix?" I say, thinking about the weird bird in my dream.

"Like… Phoenix Wright?" she asks.

"No," I answer cringing at the reference to the amazing but mind-numbing game, "

Like the… Constellation"

"You want me to draw… A constellation?" she asks.

"Uhh…" I sigh, "How about the different birds from Harry Potter instead? Hedwig, Errol, Pig, Fawkes etc."

"So, mostly owls and a mythological creature?"

"… Yes please…" I say sheepishly.

She starts her drawings, making quick lines… People really are much more her strength than animals, still… It's much better than what I could draw. The bus makes its first stop and I have to nudge Jessica to let her know we need to get off. Thanking the driver, my friend and I make the quick walk from the stop, to my home.

Seeing that there are no cars in the drive, I look sheepishly at Jess.

"Nobody's home… We have it to ourselves for now."

"Do you have a key?" she asks.

"No, but the door won't be locked," I answer pulling it open to show her, "See?"

"Does your mom and stepdad know how dangerous that can be? What if there's a masked murderer wielding an ax in there."

"Then they'll have to deal with my mom's overbearing cat, and my rambunctious kitten. Teapoo and Elliot make a great tag team… When ever mom's old ass cat isn't sleeping… Then, Elliot's far more likely to cause Poodles trouble than anyone else… Besides, no one locks their doors on base apparently." I say rolling my eyes, "Everyone's to knowing that should a robbery happen the military men will join forces to curb-stomp the unlucky bastard that tried."

"You talk like a sailor, you know that right?" Jessica asked walking into the PMQ.

"Yea, yea… I'm working on the language thing Jess… I'm just not used to being allowed to curse when I want to."

"Oh how the leash tightens," Jessica smiles, "Seriously though… I'll wash your mouth out with soap if I have to."

"I've already tried that," I say sheepishly, "I found that I don't actually mind the taste all that much…"

"You really will eat anything.."

"Not true!" I say, "I won't eat Salmon and Mangos"

"Right," she agrees, "Because you'l go into Anaphylactic shock. Aren't you also allergic to penicillin?"

"Yea.. Not as badly as salmon and mangos though… Seriously though," I start, "Who the hell is allergic to freaking MANGOS! Those things are delicious!"

"Is that how you found out you were allergic?" she asks raising her eyebrows.

"… Yes…" I say sheepishly.

"You're an idiot," she exclaims, smacking her palm to her face.

"Merow," is the next sound I hear form my kitten, followed by and actual, "Meow!" from my mom's cat.

"Sup, Elliot?" I ask, grinning down at the little cat.

"Aww!" Jessica exclaims, picking the small cat from the floor, "Aren't you the cutest thing ever?"

"Oh god, stop… He'll get a big head," I say looking at my cat who is looking at my friend; nose going a mile a minute to figure her smell out, "…. Oh that's right," I state, "this is the first time you two have met… Jessica, Elliot… Elliot, Jessica."

"Charmed," Jessica laughs at my cat, "where'd you get him? How old is he?"

"The Shelter and three months."

Indeed, the black and white kitten I had gotten was supposed to have been a rabbit. I had gone into the SPCA that day in order to get a rabbit, I walked out with the kitten my friend was now coddling the hell out of. Little beggar had been making some, bloodcurdling noise as I was leaving so I walked up to his cage in curiosity. His flailing around made me want to open the cage. Doing so, he had fallen out of the cage, and into my arms… Soon to be my heart, as he melted the damn ice block that it was made out of within seconds of curling up and finally flexing in my hands. Convincing my mother that I had changed my mind about the rabbit took a few minutes… Seeing as it had taken months to convince her to let me have a rabbit… Ah well… Water under the bridge now.

"Is he usually this friendly?" she asked, nuzzling the little guy.

"He's a lady killer, watch out," I warn, chuckling.

Grabbing my kitten by the scruff, I pulled him into my arms. He mewled a protest, but my thumb rubbing his little face halted them pretty quickly. Heh, I've still got it.

"Got any homework?" I ask.

"Pff do I look like you? Since when do I do homework?" Jess retorts.

"True facts," I reply, "I got lucky this weekend… Nothing but researching that thing for Kayla… Which can damn well wait, I have a guest," I finish grinning at my friend.

"Good." Jessica says, snatching my kitten away from me, "Shall we go downstairs?"

"Sure you go ahead, want any snacks?"

"Eh, whatever's cool… Oh.. Do you have Coke? I'd love a Cola," she asks sheepishly.

"Yep! Milk too if you wanted to mix it."

"Ew! That's gross Sam," Jess said, looking appalled, "Just the cola please."

"Ok, I'll join you in just cola," I say grinning as I grab some snack foods and the colas from the fridge, "Lead the way my lady."

Jessica scurries down the steps to the basement. It's dark, and kind of dungeon like, with only one light at the top of the stairs to illuminate the whole of it, but I've made it into my own personal nook. Walking over to the solitary bed, where Jessica has planted herself with Elliot, I hand her a cola and sit next to her, setting my backpack on the ground. The red book dislodges itself from where I must have shoved it before the bus ride home, falling to the ground with an almost inaudible thump.

"Hell was that?" Jessica asks, picking up the red book.

"Oh… Uh, nothing Jess," I answer holding my hand out for it, "Just that book for the project," I finish sheepishly.

"You need to take better care of your things Sam," she states, petting my kitten who has apparently been reduced to a kitten pile of mush in her lap. She looks down in disappointment at my cat with me, "How come he's not purring?"

"Oh he probably is… Elliot's just really quiet… Unless he gets stuck somewhere… Then he makes this almost bloodcurdling noise to get your attention," I explain, "He's never been good at meowing and I think Poodles just puts up with him."

"How old is Teapoo?"

"Uhm.. Old?" I answer with a question, "I know mom's had him since the divorce which was in 2000 so… about eight?"

"He's younger than Tenacious," Jess says, referring to her stepmother's tabby at home, "I like Elliot more though."

"Yea," I say sarcastically, "And you will like him… Until he steals your socks in the night… I think it's a fetish."

Handing me the red book, I slump onto the bed beside her. Looking it over, I fins that though it looks really old, it seems to have been kept quite well over how many years it's been around since it came off whatever press. Though looking gat it closer, I notice the intricate stitching, hm… Maybe it's older than the printing press… Or this could be the author's copy. But if that's the case, how did it end up in Mike's shop? Authors don't tend to donate their own personal copies, and even if it had been donated by a living relative… It still didn't add up completely. Could I… Possibly have been meant to find the book? … Nah, that would be something my harebrained mother would come up with, 'Fate' and 'Destiny' mean almost nothing to me; someone that's been heartily avoiding her fate.

Opening the book to the first page, I blinked at the drawing on the inside.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, grabbing Jessica's attention from my cat.

"What?"

"It's that bird, the one I saw in my dream at school!"

"Huh? Let me see," Jess said holding her hand out for the book, "What a weird drawing… What is it exactly?"

"Uhhh… I say taking another look at the artwork," I'd have to say it's the Chinese rendition of what a phoenix would look like…"

"Huh…" Jessica said, getting bored and now playing with Elliot's paws.

"Be careful Jess, he's not a huge fan of having his feet played with," I warn.

The familiar tones of a DS powering up makes me turn my head to my friend. The tune to 'Calling' started playing.

"Is that 'The World Ends With You'?" I ask.

"Yep, good job Sam I think I might have a dog biscuit somewhere here for you," Jessica says frantically flicking all over her DS… I don not understand the merits of that game… But I enjoy the soundtrack.

"I bought the soundtrack on iTunes," I admit.

"Pffff really?"

"Yea, just don't call me 'Phones' okay?"

"Sure thing… Phones," Jessica replies.

"Sometimes, I wonder why we're friends."

"Because we love each other on just that level of friendship that I can make fun of you and you take it like a man takes a kick to the crotch."

"So… Not very well?" I ask.

"Not really… It's hard to explain… Don't know why you bought the soundtrack to a game you suck at, by the way… Seems kind of like slapping yourself in the face."

"The soundtrack is nice," I reply, "Probably the only rap music I'll ever listen too… Besides Eminem"

"You're… Comparing Japanese rap to American rap?"

"Yes."

"You're hopeless Sam."

"Pff be careful," I warn, "You're about to get decimated by the noise."

"Oh apple sticks!" Jessica shouts looking back to her DS, "Neku if you die on me I'll restart the game darn you!"

Leaving my friend to her overly -perfectionist- loving musings, I look back down at the book. Pulling my headphones and iPod out of my bag, I plug myself into it but keep the music off and the speakers around my neck. Turning my gaze away from the picture of the phoenix and look at what would constitute the first page to find only a little bit of writing.

_'Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish.'_

"Huh," I say after reading the first paragraph.

"What?" Jess asks, whilst not really paying attention more so focused on the game.

"Looks like I picked up some kind of Choose-your-own-adventure novel, dressed in the skin of a fantasy."

"That… Is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Jessica replied going back once more to fighting the noise tirelessly, "Comon Shiki… Use that stupid plushie properly."

"Any idea what Suzaku is by the way? … I have yet to come across that term."

"I don't know… Maybe it's the cover art there."

"That would make so much sense," I said turning to the book again.

_'For indeed, the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality…'_

This book is daring me… Well, I'm not one to turn down a challenge. I took a bold stand taking a breath and turned the page.

"Huh.. Nothing happened…"

There was also nothing written on the next page.

"Oh, what a rip!" I started, "Wait… What?" I stared and read with something akin to fear as words appeared on the blank page before me.

_'And thus the young lady of legends opened the door to another world, and likewise began our tale…'_

A bright, red light filtered in through the crack of the book, I covered my eyes and made a strangled sound of shock. The sound of a bird warbling filled my ears at the same time my room and Jessica disappeared, my world turned to blinding red light, and darkness then and I knew no more.

* * *

Well, another day another chapter... Things in italics belong to Mrs. Watase... The manga itself to be precise... Let me know what you think.. I'm having far to much fun though really... I think I need to tone myself down... Or at least be less high winded... :3 At any rate, I do hope whomever is reading this is liking it.

~Stillcaresaboutnerding


	5. Chapter 5

"What were they thinking!" The military advisory exclaimed.

"The situation should never have become this grave!" the head of treasury continued.

"Your majesty," A retainer started, almost meekly, "I'm surprised the peace lasted this long. During all these years Konan has been almost too quiet."

"We need to strike while the iron is hot!" the military advisor spoke up, only to have that immediately shot down by the head of treasury.

"Konan doesn't have that kind of military strength and you know that your majesty. I think we should make another treaty of peace with them."

"Like the last one?" the retainer asked referring to the failed messaged that had caused the meeting the room of arguing men to have come into occurrence.

The neighbouring country to the east claimed that the usual treaty had never gotten to them and that their smaller southern neighbour had never sent them in the first place. Even though they had, and insisted that simple truth. Ruffled feathers of the eastern dignitaries were calling for blood. The Emperor of the eastern country having had more experience on the throne than the much younger man sitting before of the roomful of afore mentioned arguing men.

_Dear Suzaku, _he thought to himself, staring down not paying the men before him much attention as they argued needlessly, _If there was ever a time for our country to need you. Now would be it._

A brilliant red light clouded the emperor's vision, blinking it was once more gone. A message from the gods, perhaps? Looking at his feet he saw a single red feather slowly fading.

"What is this?" he asked aloud, gaining the attention of his advisors.

"Your Majesty-"

A second red light brighter than the first engulfed the room, with the light came the sound of a songbird's call and the scream of a girl. Following that was the sound of an unseen person hitting the dais and tumbling down the stairs leading to it. The light dissipated, and the emperor - along with his stunned advisors - could see what the strange light had brought.

Standing from his throne, the emperor ignored the protests of the advisors and approached the crumpled form at the foot of the dais.

" Scheiße, dass verdammt weh," came an obviously female voice in a harsh sounding language.

"It speaks in tongues!" the head of treasury shouted, backing away quickly from the girl who was struggling to sit up, "Your majesty, step away from it. It's obviously an evil spirit!"

The military advisor - either going along with the head of treasury, or perhaps sensing some semblance of danger from the injured female; that he now noticed was bleeding from what appeared to be a head wound - stepped in the path of the emperor blocking him from reaching her. Choosing actions over words, the military man unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the girl's head.

"I don't think that kind of force is really necessary," the emperor stated softly, watching as the girl muttered in a strange language again and rubbed her head, unaware of her surroundings. His eyes widened behind the vail on his headdress, when he noticed the three bright red feathers she was grasping.

Aushing herself to a sitting Position, the Girl finally Tool in her surroundings, "Warum bin ich auf dem Boden? Autsch meinem Kopf ... Federn? Huh? Uhhh Warum sind Sie zeigte mit einem Schwert auf mich?"

The angry look from the military man was probably giving her enough information.

"Wrong language… Whoops.. Uh," she started in the proper language, "Why are you pointing a sword at me?" she asked innocently, "Hell... Where am I seems to be a more logical question really."

The head of treasury nodded at the military advisory who shared a glance with the man before grabbing the girl by the scruff of her clothes, dragging her away while she protested the way she was being manhandled.

"Hey! You oaf let go of me! What did I do?" the door to the throne-room slamming behind the two of them shut out any more protests from the girl.

"Fear not your majesty-"

"I am hardly scared of a confused woman, advisor," the emperor rebuked sharply, "where is he going with the girl?"

"Probably to execute and vanquish the evil spirit," the retainer finally squeaked.

"Guard!" the emperor called attention, "Stop the military advisory and tell him to bring the girl to the dungeon, We will decide her fate at a later time. You are dismissed."

The guard quickly scurried off to complete his order. Looking to the small blotches of blood on the floor, the emperor noted that she had dropped the feathers. Bending down he picked up the slightly warm feathers and thought to himself.

_Is this your message then, great Suzaku?_

* * *

A shamefully short chapter... Will update again soon. I would like to thank a "Portlandgirl" for her review. :) Hope you enjoyed even if this was indeed really short.

Oh, the language Samantha was speaking was German. The first sentence being, "Shit, that fucking hurt." the second being, "Why am I on the floor? Ouch my head... Feathers? Uh.. Huh? Why are you pointing a sword at me?"

Confused girl. Let me know if you'd like me to continue using my... Unfortunately vast knowledge of languages in this, or if it's confusing and annoying... I find that if there's a translation or a number guide right next to the possibly foreign words ruins my immersion in a story... Whilst what I did... Can make someone want to bean me and crack open a translator only to find it was all in vain as I translated it at the bottom like the troll I pretend to be... Which would indeed make most of my friends BEAN me all while I sing some horrible rendition of the trollsong... Because the internet is a horrible place.

-Listening to to much Disney music at the end of a hectic work week/MONTH~

~Stillcaresaboutnerding

P.S. I obviously failed NaNoWriMo... Buggar me.


	6. Chapter 6

"Owwwwww," I said as I rubbed my nose dejectedly.

My head had a forming lump on it, and was throbbing with what was probably going to be quite the headache. The bleeding had stopped a little while ago, I'd have cleaned the side of my face up, but I didn't have any tissues. For now though, my nose was the bigger ache and was distracting me from the head wound and blood trail.

The ogreish man had tossed me unceremoniously into what seemed to be a wooden jail cell circa the Era of Christ. For some reason I thought he had wanted to do more than toss my sorry ass in this little room, but that had been before someone I could probably safely assume was a guard had caught up to the ogre, and told him in not-so-hushed whispers to bring me to the dungeon instead of wherever his pissed off boss was taking me. My nose had smacked against the stone wall at the back of the cell along with the rest of the front of my body.

I kinda hope that guard didn't get in trouble for changing his boss' plans… He had looked fuming mad. Ah well, not my business, really.

The guard in charge of watching prisoners -which at the moment was only me- had chatted with the man that brought me down here quite quickly, and when he returned he ignored my questions, and decided to shut me up by threateningly pointing a very sharp looking spear at my face… Lovely. At the moment, the guard was pointedly ignoring me now. From the other end of the dungeon he didn't seem like such a big threat… Then again, I'd be more than an idiot to try anything with an armed assailant waiting for me to make a wrong move.

At least I had my music and headphones in the cell, now that was a blessing. I could ignore the guard and he could ignore me. With that thought I plugged myself in with the volume almost all the way down, sat in a corner and waited.

Four hours in the cell later, and the guard had apparently decided to have a nap. Standing from the corner I had planted myself, I disbelievingly walked to the the cell door as quietly as I could. Poking my head through one of the wooden squares tentatively to not get stuck I took a look down the hall. Sure enough, the guard was there sitting in a chair, sound asleep. If not for the snoring, I would probably have given him some kind of award for the silence game.

_Well, fuck this… _I thought pulling one of the many bobby pins I had tucked in the bottom of my pocket out. I have no idea how locks work… But this cell is made out of wood, so I picture the lock to be rather simple compared to what I'd find at home.

_How the hell did I even get here? _I thought to myself, while getting busy with the lock,_ Last I checked I was in my room with Jessica reading a book… Then there was that light… Am I having some kind of fucked up dream? What the hell did I eat today? Did I slip something into my cola… Shit Jess! Don't drink your Cola! _

The lock suddenly made a _chink _sound. Looking back at the guard to see if I had alerted him that not all was well in Denmark -possible pun moving on- and he had woken. Nope, still out like a light, must be a heavy sleeper… Good… Gives me time to see if this actually worked.

Pushing the door slightly, I was surprised with myself at opening the lock… Somehow. Beginner's luck, bet it was a totally crap lock and I just got lucky. Slowly pushing the door until there was just enough room to squeeze myself out, I closed the cell behind me. With a little more luck I'd be able to sneak past sleeping ugly and make my way out of wherever the hell I was… Or maybe the whole point of this dream was to escape a jail cell… That would be pretty weird though.

Tucking my headphones around my neck and my ipod in my front pocket, I tiptoed out of the dungeon and into the light of late afternoon.

Fuck it's hot in this dream. My black shirt was nice and all, but lord it was hot here. I had even brought a sweater I noticed to my bemusement.

_Screw you dream for being stupidly hot and making me wear… Well exactly what I was wearing before… I'm a Canadian girl, not a Texan the only thing I like hot is my cocoa, tea, men, and spicy chicken that mom makes, _I thought, shaking all the mental fists I could muster. For some reason the dream wasn't listening to my requests of at the very least a cool breeze.

Wandering around the clearly Chinese buildings I guessed that this was some kind of palace. Really the amount of red paint, rich architecture, and general beauty was what had given it away. I also guess that I'm lucky I haven't run into any guards yet. Hearing footsteps approaching can teach me a lesson about counting chickens later. I ducked into the nearest room, closed the door and prayed that whoever was coming down the way would leave.

_Just leave, nothing to see here… Don't come in please, _I mentally begged over and over like a mantra with my eyes closed. There were a few tense moments, where a voice called out to whoever was standing outside the door. Something about a shrine to Suzaku, and leaving it alone, followed by a third voice saying the prisoner had escaped… _Well, there goes my cover, _I thought depressed. The voices left the area, and everything went quiet.

I held my breath and waited until I couldn't hold it any longer. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was that I was not alone in this room, there was a person kneeling with their back to me in prayer.. The first thing I noticed was the golden statue of a bird… The same bird from the book. The next thing I noticed was the burning incense. The last thing I noticed was that the person praying hadn't noticed me yet… Thank frig for that, I figured I could silently wait out the guards excitement and leave before the other person turned around…

"QUACK QUACK QUACK" went the alarm on my ipod, through my headphones loudly.

The person in prayer jumped up and turned quickly in surprise, hell I jumped in surprise, squeaking and pulling the damn stupid cover blowing object out of my pocket, turning off the damn duck alarm before it alerted someone else here. Looking fearfully at the other person in the room, I tried to come up with some way of getting my stupid self out of _this _mess. The other person, was studying me carefully… Watching the way I was reacting, and taking what seemed to be careful note of my features. Taking quick notes on the other person, I decided that they were male… Until I was proven otherwise, the long hair and rather androgynous, but still beautiful face were difficult to pin a gender… So I'd go with my gut.

"Uhh," I started lamely, "I come in peace?" holding my hands up slightly in what I hoped was a pacifying gesture… God I hope I didn't just insult their mother with that gesture.

I could almost hear Jessica smacking herself in the face at my stupidity. To his credit, he didn't laugh at me. He did smirk though. I half smiled back worriedly, and looked a little beyond him… At three very red and familiar feathers.

"Oh hey, aren't those those feathers I was holding earlier?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Oh… Cool," I said, "Uhh… I'm Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam." I offered my name, hoping he wasn't about to call for guards.

"That's an interesting name, what does it mean?" he asked tilting his head indulgently.

"Listener of God," I answered, "I'm not very religious though" I admitted.

"What was that noise earlier? It sounded like a duck…"

"That was an alarm for me that I must have forgotten to turn off… I didn't mean to interrupt you," I said sheepishly.

"I had already been interrupted by the door opening, followed by the guards saying something about the prisoner escaping… Isn't that you?" he asked smiling like a cat that had recently eaten a canary.

"Not at all, I'm just lost," I lied through my teeth.

He caught me in the lie quickly enough, almost as if he had expected it.

"Didn't you say you had been carrying these feathers?" he pointed.

"… Okay I lied," I hurriedly admitted shamefully.

"It's alright," he said smiling at me, "I'm not busy right now so how about I give you a tour of the palace?"

"Uhhhh," I stated giving him a questioning look.

"The special 'No Guard' Tour," he amended.

"Thanks… But I should really be going," I said raising an eyebrow at the man.

"Do you even know how to get out of the palace?"

"… Fuck it you win," I sighed, smacking my forehead with my hand, "Ow… Shouldn't have done that," I said annoyed, now rubbing the lump to alleviate the pain I felt.

The man was in front of me quicker than I thought he could have been, moving my hand out of the way to flutter his own over my head, lightly pressing here and there and moving my hair to take a closer look at it.

"It doesn't seem to be to serious," he said after a few moments.

Like everyone else, this man was taller than me. The only person I was taller than was my own mother. I had to tilt my head back to look him in the eyes from where he was standing. He was about a foot taller than me, making him at the least six feet tall. Slipping my hands to my headphones, and them back onto my ears, I sighed thinking quickly, with the sounds in the room almost inaudible. The familiar comfort of my headphones calming me so I could think clearly, quickly, and above all; carefully.

"What are you doing?" his voice came from almost afar even though he was standing in front of me, puzzled expression and all.

"Thinking," I answered removing my headphones once more.

"Ah I see," he nodded, giving me a curious look.

I sighed once more… A tour really couldn't hurt.

"Alright, a tour sounds alright with me," I conceded nodding in agreement.

He looked a little more than happy at my words. Indeed, he looked like a child on Christmas morning finding that Santa had left them that bicycle they had asked for. Best Christmas ever, I smiled remembering such a memory… Only it was my youngest brother, and he had asked Santa for a blue wagon. 'Santa' had certainly delivered.. I had saved up for months walking dogs and delivering papers to get him that wagon… Ahh childhood, those were some happyish times. I noted that the man had left me standing reminiscing, snapping out of lala-land with a blink, I scurried to the other side of the shrine, where there was a second door.

"Hold up," I said, "What's your name?" I finished timidly, "I told you mine but you never mentioned yours…"

"How rude of me," he replied aghast at an oversight on his part, "I'm Hotohori, though," he paused, "people usually call me something else."

"What do they usually call you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hotohori smiled, and I felt the world stop turning for a moment. Dang, he could probably stop an angry mob with that smile.

"It's not important," Hotohori replied in a sing-song tone. Leading me out of the shrine after making sure the coast was clear.

The tour was a quiet one, Hotohori made sure no guards came upon us, and I followed behind quietly taking in the surroundings. Noting everything meticulously, I would not want to be lost in this place… Assuming I'd ever have this messed up dream again.

"So," Hotohori said, stopping to look back at me, "Where are you from?"

Snapped out of my train of thought I blinked, "Uhhhh," shaking my head and wracking my brain for a plausible way to avoid the question. Since he had patiently waited for me to answer whilst smiling I figured I may as well be honest, "Canada… Uh.. Alberta… Is where I'm from.."

"Where is that?" he asked.

"Probably a really long way away from wherever this is," I answered looking to the ground.

A hand lifting my chin gently brought my eyes up to meet Hotohori's. He seemed to be content to study me quietly looking into my eyes, while I did the same to him… What color are his eyes? They look to be brown, but I can see little flecks of gold in there too… It's pretty, whatever the color is.

"I've never seen eyes this color…" he said after a pregnant pause of searching my eyes for something.

"Pretty out of this world I bet," I said smiling, "blue eyes are actually pretty hard to end up having… Not as hard as green… Or Hazel, my mom's eyes are hazel," I rambled on.

" 'Out of this world'?" he asked, looking at me as if in a new light, "Are you trying to tell me you're from another world?"

I paused… Do dreams count as other worlds? Still, if this were a dream… Even my worst nightmares didn't give me pain… This dream had hurt. The dry blood on the side of my head from the head wound were now sending off little alarm bells. Poking where I had hit my head I wondered to myself, as Hotohori watched the realization hit me like an Alberta blizzard… Hard.

"I…" I started and paused, feeling my pupils dilate in fear, "That… I… This has to be some kind of dream Hotohori," I laughed then, worry eating my insides, hyperventilation would come soon, "I mean, how long have I been here? I have to wake up," I felt the world spinning under my feet, a sudden feeling of vertigo as everything clicked into place and anxiety of my situation crashed through my mental gates, I breathed heavily and shut my eyes trying to stabilize myself, "This can't be happening." I repeated this mantra, panicking with my hands clamped over my ears, forgetting my headphones would have sufficed and probably done better.

Warm hands on my shoulders snapped me out of my panic. Looking up to a concerned Hotohori, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. The familiar pinpricks telling me that I was about t cry and lose my head. Hotohori moved one hand from my shoulder to my head, where he patted my head the same way a parent would try to pacify a small child. And for once, someone touching my head didn't give me any anxiety… Rather the surprising calming effect it had shocked me. Even his soft smile was pacifying my tears, slowly moving my hands away from my ears I looked at the man in fear, fingering the wire to my headphones to keep my hands busy, lest they think about hugging Hotohori in an effort to make myself wake up.

"It's alright," he said smiling.

The moment was cut short by someone yelling.

"I've found her! The prisoner is over here."

I turned around abruptly ignoring him for the bigger problem at hand. That didn't last long. They must have heard me freaking out and I mentally berated myself for my anxiety. Now I really was screwed. And to top it off an innocent bystander was probably going to get hurt too. I looked over my shoulder at Hotohori, he had a tense look on his face. The guard's shouting had summoned a posse of other guards. Seriously? They must be really bored if that may came to find little old me down.

"Should we book it?" I asked quietly, ready to bolt at a moment's notice, but not willing to run off on my first friend in this strange place.

Oh look, the asshat that tossed me into the cell was there too… Joy. Hotohori stood in front of me, blocking my view of the guards… And probably their view of me.

"Halt!" he commanded.

Surprisingly to me all but one of the guards stopped. The one that hadn't was the afore mentioned asshat. Who continued up to Hotohori and me. I ducked behind Hotohori, hoping beyond hope that someone would at least save the kind man that had helped me, and so bravely faced the guards that were chasing me.

"Your Majesty you should not concern yourself with the evil spirit," Captain numb-nuts spoke out.

Wait… 'Your Majesty'? What? I looked up at the back of Hotohori's head. Why would someone call Hotohori that… Unless… I'm starting to think I might need to up my dose of anxiety medication if this keeps up. I mean, I realize I'm in some kind of palace… But aren't kings usually… Older? Unless Hotohori was a prince… But that still doesn't make any sense, ah my brain hurts… What are they saying anyways I kind of spaced out there.

The two of them were obviously arguing in hushed tones. Hotohori was probably pleading my case to the ogre… What a nice man.

"Ow!" I shouted, as my arms were suddenly grabbed from behind. Hotohori whipped around angrily looking at whatever poor soul had grabbed me.

"We command you to release her at once!"

Holy fuck… The royal 'we'… The guard let me go, dropping to his knees as if the act of merely touching me had burned him. Just what the hell kind of situation have I gotten myself into? Hotohori looked absolutely livid. He glared at the guard that had grabbed me in a way that promised retribution at a later time. I quietly shook as if cold, the glare was giving me chills. I mentally noted to myself that Hotohori was not one to provoke into anger.

"Hotohori," I started timidly. His gaze softened as he looked at me, I blushed and searched his face for answers I hoped I would find. Finding none, I decided to ask, "What's going on?"

"Perhaps," he started, "it would be better to explain this to you officially."

An hour later, found me sitting before Hotohori, who had changed clothes and put his hair up. He truly looked the emperor that the guards had claimed he was. Blinking up at the man that was more of a stranger now, I found that I couldn't speak. I waited for him to speak, while he looked down at me from the dais, thoughtfully, as if considering his next words very carefully.

"Our apologies, Samantha," he started using the royal we again, "trickery was not our intention… We simply wished to understand you better."

"Okay," I said fiddling with my necklace nervously.

"At least we've disproved our advisors opinions that you are an evil spirit. Therefore, we have decided that you shall not be executed."

"Well that's a relief," I muttered under my breath quietly.

"However," he paused here, thinking carefully once more, "we have one request. Will you protect our empire, Priestess of Suzaku?"

I paused and looked at the man that, up until about an hour ago I had considered a friend. What the hell did he mean 'Priestess of Suzaku'?

"Care to explain?" I asked.

Giving me a serious look he drew in a long breath, "There is a legend in our land. At the time when the empire falls into disorder, and is on the verge of collapse… A young lady will appear from another world, seeking the power of Suzaku. The moment she possesses the power of Suzaku, she will lead the empire to glory. This young lady, called the 'Priestess of Suzaku', has finally arrived. She sits before us now."

"Tha-That can't be right," I denied heartily, "I'm just a high school kid trying to graduate and pull my own weight at home at the same time. I don't have time for that sort of thing, I need to go home," I finished firmly, ashamed of myself. Hotohori had helped me, and I basically just shoved his troubles back at him. Guilt gnawed at me.

Undeterred, Hotohori continued as if I hadn't just said no, "Yet you are a woman with a wish correct? I am more than certain that you may not be able to go home without the power of Suzaku, Samantha."

"A wish? That was…" I remembered the prologue suddenly, ' _Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish.'_

Putting a hand to my forehead tentatively, I poked at the still smarting ache. Still not a dream, it seemed. Well… If this was the only way to get home…

"You've got a deal. I'll be the Priestess."

* * *

And there you go~ Sorry for the wait those that read this... I got a little bogged down with work and other minor stressors... Still, longest chapter thus far~ A random thought... Just in case, no I don't own Fushigi Yuugi... And anything you see that looks familiar is probably Yu Watase's stuff... Samantha and the plot that I am slowly brainstorming (I should REALLY PLAN these things... OTL) is mine... At any rate, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter... Now I can really try to get into the meat and potatoes of Fushigi Yuugi and start Samantha on her rather difficult journey. The feathers will become a bit of a plot thing later... And the feather that faded will be explained /HOPEFULLY/ next chapter.

Until then,

~Stillcaresaboutnerding


	7. Chapter 7

_Knock, knock, knock._

And here I thought I'd have a little bit of peace. I rubbed at my sore, but now bandaged head. The palace doctor has spread some cool but stinging salve on the wound and wrapped it, telling me quite sternly not to scratch at it. Well, he didn't tell me not to rub it. It itched, but the soreness overpowered that urge, so for the most part I was only rubbing it to make sure this wasn't a dream.

_'Why can my life never be simple?' _I asked myself sighing.

"Your eminence?" a voice called from the other side of the door.

"Come in," I answered, startled from my wool gathering.

Turning towards the door, I was almost faintly surprised to see that a much more comfortable looking Hotohori was standing in the open doorway. Waving him in, he closed the door softly behind him and came to join me at the desk in my room. I had the few belongings I had on me when I got dumped here spread out on the desk. Headphones, iPod, the watch my mother had given me; which wasn't working, my globe watch that was working, but needed to be set to whatever the hell the time was, the ring Jessica had given me for Christmas, some bobby pins that would likely go missing soon - as I can never seem to keep track of them - , the leftover money Dylan had given me; with a little bit of extra coin, a couple hair ties that I would pray wouldn't break any time soon, and lint from the bottom of my pockets.

So much for being prepared for everything. Hotohori examined the items carefully, picking up the globe watch and listening to the soft ticks.

"What a strange device," he stated.

"It's a globe watch, it's a wind-up so the time is a little off… It doesn't seem that my actual watch is working though so I'll probably rely more on that one," I stated looking over the watch my mom had given me. I hope it's not broken and that it's just this place being a jerk.

"And what is this?" he asked, pointing at the money.

"Canadian money… The green ones are twenties, the coins are loonies, toonies, quarters, dimes, and a penny," I answered pointing to each item in order.

"Who is the woman on the coins?"

"The Queen of England, Elizabeth the Second," I answered.

"She rules your country?"

"Britain has the Monarchy, yes… But Canada has been a Constitutional Monarchy since 1534, when the King of France claimed possession of what is now Canada. It wasn't until about July 1st, 1867 that Canada became it's own country, after asking the then current monarch, Great Britain if we could do so. They let us, and we decided to keep our parent countries France and Britain in the loop with us. Though Britain is the bigger player in Canada, and has been since France lost the commonwealth to Britain."

The confused look on his face, told me that I had gone off on a tangent.

"Anyways," I started, clearing my throat awkwardly, "was there something you wanted?"

"Hmm? Ah yes," Hotohori started, pulling a red scroll out from somewhere on his robes, "I was wondering if you would be ready to learn how to get the power of Suzaku…"

"Faster I do this, the faster I get home," I reply nodding, holding a hand out for the scroll.

He smiled almost sadly as he placed the scroll in my waiting hand. Feeling the delicate paper, I hummed to myself and began examining it quietly. It hadn't aged very well, but it still look like it was quite old. I would need to be careful with this, or I would need to leave it in Hotohori's capable hands. Opening the scroll, I paused, flabbergasted at what I saw on the paper.

"Old Chinese, of freaking course," I stated angrily at the scroll, as if it had offended me greatly.

"What is wrong?" Hotohori asked, as if he hadn't just handed me something impossible.

"I can't read Old Chinese is what's wrong," I bit at him, "I now realize I'm in some version of Ancient China, but couldn't this have been written in something legible? How am I supposed to work with this? They don't teach this in High School Hotohori."

"I can read it," he pacified, lightly taking the scroll away from my angry hands, clearing his throat, "In the book, there are twenty-eight holy constellations of heaven. Each of the four cardinal points, North, South, East, and West, claims seven constellations. The Southern seven are called the Suzaku. It's a general astronomical term. The names of the seven constellations are: Chichiri, Tamahome, Nuriko, Hotohori, Chiriko, Tasuki, and Mitsukake. They make up the seven constellations of Suzaku," he paused to let it sink in before continuing, "You need to find the other six. Unless you personally gather all seven, you will never obtain the power of Suzaku."

"Wait a second," I said holding a hand up.

"Yes?"

"You said seven before… But now you're saying six," I said thinking over his words carefully. He stayed quietly smiling waiting for me to figure it out. I blinked once, twice, a third time and listened to the clockwork gears tiredly clink in my mind before I questioned him, " 'Hotohori'… Isn't just a convenient nickname, right?"

"Indeed it is not," he said chuckling at me.

A bright red light enveloped the room, when it dissipated, Hotohori was pointing to a spot on his neck that hadn't been there before. Looking at it closer, I saw that it was a Chinese character. Thinking through miscellaneous notes on one-word characters the were easy enough to memorize, the character for 'Star' seemed to match my mental picture to the character on his neck.

"Does that hurt?" I ask poking the mark, without asking. It was warmer than the skin around it.

"Not at all," he answered laughing and putting up with my childish curiosity.

"So, do they all have this mark?" I ask, backing into my chair again at a respectful distance from the emperor.

"According to the scroll," he said pointing to six different squiggles in turn, "they probably don't. Some may not even know they have the mark of Suzaku."

"What the hell kind of situation have I gotten myself into?" I ask slouching in my chair, leaning my arms on the desk and looking fondly at my iPod. I seriously need to put my headphones on.

"Fear not, your eminence," Hotohori started smiling, "your warriors will not let you fail, I - and the others once we find them - will protect you."

"It's Sam.. Your majesty," I replied, smiling sadly, "Saying 'your eminence' just makes me think there's even more pressure than there probably is."

"Then please call me Hotohori."

"Fine… I promise that when this is all over," I started putting my headphones around my neck, "that I am never reading another choose your own adventure book again."

He blinked, "Choose your own adventure?"

"You have so much to learn about my world, it's not even funny," I replied, "Well… fourteen point twenty-eight percent is better than zero percent."

"What?"

"One out of Seven," I answered quickly, "Still… This might take a while… And I don't have a while to do it in, my best friend is probably freaking the hell out in my room right now."

"Yes, it could take up to several months to finish a quest of this magnitude," Hotohori mused, fiddling with his long hair.

"Well, here's hoping that I can get back home before anything drastic is done in Lancaster Park," I state, worrying my lip.

"Lancaster Park?"

"It's where my mom and step dad are. It's about fifteen minutes away from Edmonton, which is the capital of Alberta… Which is in Canada, the country I'm from."

"I see," he deadpanned, probably not wanting to pry.

"So," I start, fidgeting with my headphones again, "how do I go about finding these six people, considering the added problem of they may not even know they are one of the Suzaku's chosen… If I may be so bold to dub it that."

"Orders have already been made for the finest warriors in the palace to gather. Messengers are currently being readied to set off to the different provinces of Hong-Nan with the promise of a high stipend should they be found to be one of the seven," he explained meticulously as if reading from a to-do list.

"Well, I guess you can't just ask people to do something for nothing," I say smiling, "Just how big is Hong-Nan?"

"Well, if you were to walk from the East of the country to the west, I estimate that it would take about three months," Hotohori explained after a moment of thought he added, "North to South would take about five."

"And I thought driving across Canada took a long time," I said sighing.

"How long does it take to get across your homeland?" he asked curiously.

"Uhm… From Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland… About ten months West to East along the Trans Canada Trail… Not sure about North to South… And that's walking speed by the way… Driving is about… Uhhh," I paused counting on my fingers, screwing my eyes shut trying to do the math in my head, "About three days. Flying-"

"Your world fly?" Hotohori interrupted excitedly.

"In Air Planes, yes… Oh right… the Wright Brothers don't exist here and I'm betting you don't know what a hot air ballon is?" I asked.

"Not at all, I presume it is another method to fly though, yes?"

"Yea… anyways," I continued on, "Flying can take anywhere from six to ten hours depending on Wind speeds, if the plane is making any stops, e-t-c."

"Fascinating… Your world is an amazing place," Hotohori stated looking at me as if I was a new specimen in a scientist's lab.

"Well, we have a lot of cool things, and then we have a lot more ways to kill other people," I said putting a damper on the mood, "Things aren't exactly peaceful back home. But that's okay, the danger is on the other-side of the planet for me, and Canada takes pride in being a peaceful and multicultural country," I finish, smiling sadly at the memory of home.

"You must miss your home terribly," Hotohori said patting my head.

"Eh.. I'll just have to busy myself and put it out of my mind," I answered in, leaning into his attention on my hair, "I'll eventually get over it… And who knows? Maybe by the time I'm done here… I'll want to stay. It's hard to predict."

"At any rate, Sam, I should be going. We have an early morning tomorrow and there are still some duties I must, as emperor finish before I turn in to rest for the night. Would you be adverse to breaking fast with me in the morning?" He asked, standing from his chair, gathering the scroll up with him.

"Uh… Sure, I'll eat breakfast with you," I said slightly confused.

With that he left, closing the door behind him. I listened to the sound of his light footsteps going down the hall. I stood from my chair and, with iPod in hand headphones now firmly lodged over ears, flopped onto my bed. Putting my Disney music on the lowest volume setting I mused through the lyrics of the familiar songs and tales. Thinking about how my life was starting to sound like something out of a fantasy novel mixed with Mulan. Christ, that was the first movie I had ever seen in a theatre that was a long time ago.

I blew out the candle on the bedside table and quickly stripped myself of my jeans, sweater and bra, leaving myself in underwear and a t-shirt. For pyjamas, this would have to do for now until I could get some more clothes. And hopefully, that would be soon… That sweater would help me if I needed to do some camping, but that would only be at night. Other than night, it would probably be swelteringly hot.

With that thought, the music shifted to .Hack, and I drifted off into a fitful sleep.

I had a feeling that it would not be the last nearly sleepless night I would have in this place.

* * *

Ok, can my power please stop being affected by the ice storm in Nova Scotia? Yes? Thank you. This may be the last chapter of 2013... I will try to squeeze another in there somewhere, but if I can't, you've been warned.

First off... I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed, fav'd, and followed... Seriously... You guys make my day ;w;

Secondly... How's the pacing for you guys? I'm not seeming to be getting any complaints, except for my own musings of wanting to hurry the heck through this lol~ How was that short, but sweet Canadian History lesson? lmao Sorry, I need to get the History-junkie out somewhere. Samantha sucks at math in case you haven't noticed. and I tried to guesstimate how long it would be to walk Hong-Nan

Lastly... I thought it would be good to start off a little differently with the warriors, you'll understand soon enough if you don't at the moment.

Oh, and if you don't like me using the Chinese names, I am sorry in advance... I've been working off the Manga, not the anime (Even though I love the Voice acting Dub or Sub... Nakago's English VA can't pronounce 'Derogatory' right... Don't know why I picked up on that... But I did... EVERYTIME)

~StillcaresaboutNerding.

P.S. Holy God this Chapter was dialogue heavy D: I thought I sucked at writing dialogue... Well, take that English 20-1 teacher that called me the wrong name for a full term...


	8. Chapter 8

Waking up felt weird. That moment of starring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, and trying to piece together where I was again. That was when I remembered and was filled with a state of dread. This can't be a dream if I've fallen asleep, and woken up still in the same place. I removed my headphones and sat up. The usual sick feeling in my stomach was probably the only familiar thing about waking up. Urg, I hate mornings...

It wasn't even close to dawn. I felt that it was still far off, so my biological alarm had synchronized with this world. Or I had just gotten enough sleep, still, it was quite dark outside, I noted gazing out of the open window. I don't remember opening that, but I don't remember closing it either, and the breeze felt nice.

I sigh, I know that even though I still feel tired, I won't be getting to sleep again anytime soon. I roll out of the comfortable and warm bed, picking my jeans up off the floor. I change my t-shirt for my sweater, feeling cold in the early morning - or late night, I can't tell and can't be bothered to at this time - I shuffle my bra back on quickly and business like before getting into my jeans and then shoes. The paranoia of being watched was getting to me; hairs on the back of my neck were raised very much like little Elliot's fur whenever he decided to try an out alpha my mother's cat. Heh, I miss the little guy already.

It was then that I noticed that my headphones and iPod had tangled themselves with my hair and neck. I'm probably going to strangle myself one of these days, but sometimes I just need the music. Checking the battery, I was slightly confused with the fact that it hadn't yet moved from 100%. Oh well, more music for me, though the time it now displayed was 99:99AM which wasn't a real time. I rolled my eyes, I'll have to ask Hotohori how I can tell time here, seeing as the only working device is the wind-up globe watch.

With that thought, I shuffled my iPod, placing the now detangled headphones back on my head. Lights, well, there is worse music to wake up to, I mused thinking of the admittedly small collection of metal music that had once gone off as an alarm. My mother was not impressed with my selections from Girlschool, 44 Magnium, Thor, Angel Witch, Lucifer's Friend, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, and Steppenwolf. Especially with the fact that it had woken her on the second floor of the PMQ from where I was frantically trying to turn it off in the basement.

Besides my growing oddities with my musical list, I figured I may as well wander the palace for a few hours… At least until Hotohori woke up or someone was sent to get me. It's beautiful, even at night. The scurrying sounds of small animals running to and fro as I walk the grounds are almost calming, the sight of the guards is not. Though I know that they aren't about to arrest me, the thought that they are there watching for anything attacking the palace puts my nerves on a bit of an edge.

Is there really anything to be worried about? What I have seen of this place is that this is a peaceful country. The racism and bigotry I see even in my high school and work environments just, aren't here. Then again, I've only been here for tops fourteen hours. Not exactly prime time to witness any shenanigans. God my brain sounds like an old lady sometimes. The rest of the time, it sounds like a frightened rabbit ready to run at a moments notice.

Sitting beneath what looked like an oak tree, pulling my legs beneath me I looked up at the stars. The constellations are so alien to the ones I'm used to. The only thing familiar to me is the moon, and even that looks strange. It's larger than I've ever seen it, and the light it gives off is a bluish tinge, brighter than normal moonlight. The torches carried by some of the guards don't give off as much light as the moon, and I almost wonder why the guards bother. I try to map out some of the constellations, and I think I recognize Hydra, but, I'm probably way off. Even the stars themselves were very bright.

Little did I know, but I was being watched. I blink slowly, and debate going back to my room. It's a lovely temperature out here, and the breeze actually feels sort of nice. With that thought I try to fight my heavy eyelids.

A tiny nap here, probably won't get me into to much trouble, right?

* * *

A woman watched the little girl angering the palace gardens in the dead of night. So this was the Priestess? She didn't seem like much. Huffing lightly, the woman thought of how the emperor was already doting on this scrawny pup of a girl. She had already been in the inner seraglio for over a year and had never gotten so much as a glimpse of the man.

Soon, the little wench would probably come looking for the warriors. Word had already spread around the palace that the emperor had set soldiers out with instructions to find talented people and bring them to the palace. They would probably be setting out within minutes, dawn was about to break.

It is improper for a woman to sleep under a tree, but the spoiled Priestess has done just that. The woman watching the girl sneered, watching the crumpled form curl into itself. She's given a room, but sleeps in the garden. Just how childish could she be?

Ah, she's waking up now.

The woman turned away and walked back into her rooms. She would need to come up with a plan to get rid of the Priestess. She was, after all, not needed. Hong-Nan could fight its own battles, without the waste of intelligence that was the Priestess.

* * *

Frig me, how long was I out? I look to the sky and see that it's just starting to get light out. I hope I wasn't here for long. The cat nap did save me the trouble of waiting for what I was now searching for.

There it is. Just on the horizon with the dawn.

The Morning Star.

Even in a new world, at least the Morning Star is here. I stare at the star that as a child fascinated me with its many names. Ishtar and Venus being the most prominent for current memory. At least I still have the goddess of love, war, fertility, and sexuality on my team. I smirk to myself remembering how Ishtar was known to be a fickle goddess. Oh well, I'm not a man, so there'd be no real need for her to get all fickle with me… So long as the Morning Star still shines, I'll be happy.

I get up and stretch, quickly finger combing my hair for stray grass. It's getting lighter now, and I have to hurry back to my room. I'm not sure why exactly, but I really don't want to disappoint Hotohori… Especially not on my first day as the Priestess of Suzaku. By the time I get to my room and shut the door behind me, I'm out of breath, and still trying to catch it when a knock sounds, startling me.

"Y-yes?" I stutter clutching my chest. Calm the frig down, it's probably Hotohori.

"Your eminence?"

Not Hotohori then, I ponder not recognizing the female voice. I move quietly, and open the door. In front of me is a woman. I have to look up slightly to look her in the eye.

"Yes?" I repeat, more sure of myself.

"His majesty has called for you to break fast with him," she explains smiling nervously.

I break eye contact I didn't realize I had been holding. I used to get in trouble at work for two things: Not smiling enough, and not making eye contact. The eye contact I fixed by starring without seeing at the people coming in for lunch, or breakfast. The smiling was fixed by always thinking of something I found funny… Which my boss told me made me smirk rather than smile, but I got to keep my job because my fake smile looked horrid. My boss hates me…

"Are you here to take me to him?" I ask, realizing now that I have no idea where Hotohori is.

She nods, and motions me to follow her.

"Take me to your leader, then," I mumble under my breath.

She doesn't look like she heard me, and starts walking. I follow behind like a well trained terrier, we pass various people, sleepy looking guards that probably spent the night awake patrolling the grounds, were the most prominent. Besides the woman leading me, there were others similarly dressed, and even a few that must have been noblemen.

The woman stops before a door, waving me to go in, before leaving hurriedly. I look at the door as if it had offended me somehow. Which was impossible, it was just a door. Hardly like it was an inanimate object. Shaking my head at my own shenanigans, I knocked on the door lightly.

"Enter," came Hotohori's voice from the inside.

I didn't realize I had been holding my breath. Awkwardly, I took in a slow breath, before opening the door.

"Good morning Hotohori," I say cheerily. Looking curiously around the room.

Hotohori is sitting at a small table, with a mirror reflecting him, smiling at me with a brush in his hair. Giving the man a quick once-over, I note that he's pretty much wearing what I would consider pyjamas. It's a simple cloth robe, so I'm guessing that he normally eats breakfast before getting dressed. Pulling the brush through his hair slowly, Hotohori watches me make my way to him, before placing the brush on the table, and turning to me.

"Good morning Sam, I hope you slept well?"

"Y-yea," I squeak out, blushing. I can see his chest peaking through the robe. From what I can see, I note that he is thin, but still built in a way that almost surprises me for a man his size. Geez, what am I a woman? … Well, I am… But I don't need to act like one.

The silence between us is almost awkward, and I realize that I had lost myself in a train of thought.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask, sheepish.

"I said," he repeated, as if commenting on the weather, "our meal is waiting on the table in the next room, feel free to show yourself there."

I laughed more at myself than his words, properly sheepish, thanks once more to my over-reactive nerves.

"Right, thanks, I'll meet you there," I say before slowly beelining it there.

_'Well, just what the hell do we have here?' _I ask myself as I look at the table. I've never eaten Chinese food for breakfast, hell unless I'm working an opening shift with my mother, I hardly ever eat it to begin with. I'm usually to sick in the morning to stomach it.

On the table, is a hodgepodge of different food items that I would never consider to be a breakfast food. Dumplings, rice balls -which were giving me a very spicy smell- and other foods that I would consider to be either supper, or lunch if I was feeling daring.

I guess thinking breakfast would be eggs and toast was a little more than optimistic of me...

Well, when in Rome I guess; or rather, Ancient China. This is going to be awkward as hell, at least I can use chopsticks without completely embarrassing myself. Well, it will still be awkward and filled with childlike clumsiness, but at least I'll be able to get food into my mouth. I just hope Hotohori takes into account that I'm not used to everything yet, and that if I can somehow get home before this is all done that I remember to pack a bag including my camping utensil set.

I sit at the table, and stare at the only normal thing, the tea pot. It's earthenware, and pretty, in a delicate way. I don't have long to ponder the tea pot, as Hotohori enters the room behind me. Taking the other seat, he smiles softly, watching me. I note that he has put his hair in a loose tail, that is slipping out of it's tie. I slowly stand and make my way around him, taking a hair tie out.

"What are you doing?" he asks, tilting his head to look at me.

I quickly and quietly, take his hair out of the tie, and fix it back in place, using my hair tie instead.

"It was coming loose," I say, handing him his tie, "You can keep that hair tie, I've got tons back home. Do you want some tea?" I ask, grasping the handle of the pot.

At his nod, I fill the two delicate cups, placing one in front of him. I notice, as I do that that Hotohori has filled my plate with an assortment of foods. I take the other cup and sip at the tea, it's bitter, and I sputter softly at the taste. Hotohori blinks owlishly, before laughing.

"Sorry," I say, aghast at my table manners, coughing the bitter tea down, "I'm not used to not putting anything in my tea."

"Not to worry!" Hotohori laughs as if this is an everyday occurrence. He looks at me conspiratorially, smiling all the while, "I find it quite bitter myself."

I chuckle at this, so he has a funny side. He hands me a bowl of something and I look at it questioningly, "What is this?"

"Rice porridge," he answers nonchalant, "I find it's good to start the day with something simple, but hearty. What do you normally eat in your world?"

"You mean when I'm working?" I ask.

"Do you not normally break fast?"

"Not usually until midday, no… Unless I'm working, then I need the calories," I answer.

"Very well," he says smiling, "What do you usually eat at work?"

"Uhh well," I start, "depends on the day, but recently, I've been eating a lot of oatmeal… Which is a little like porridge.. I usually toss the cranberries for extra apples though."

"If you're not working, do your parents make you break fast with them?" he asks.

"My mom does sometimes," I admit, slowly eating with the chopsticks, "Sorry again."

"Whatever for?"

"My lack of training with chopsticks," I laugh, "It's been awhile since I used them."

"It's alright," he says, before his curiosity takes over, "What do you eat when your mother makes you break fast?"

"Usually eggs and toast," I laugh, "Though, sometimes David makes pancakes. Dave makes amazing pancakes."

"Who is David?" he asks.

"My stepdad," I say like it's the most normal thing on the planet. To me though, and my world, it is normal to come from a broken background.

"Stepdad?" Hotohori asks, trying the term out questioning me silently with his eyes.

"It means he's not my birth father. But someone I consider to be my father," I answer smiling.

"Your mother is a dowager?" he asks looking at me sympathetically.

"Uhh," I say blushing, "No… No she isn't. I'm from what's called on my world a 'broken background' it means that my parents live separate lives," I finish a little embarrassed.

"I see," Hotohori says tilting his head, almost in confusion, "My own mother was a dowager."

"I'm sorry," I say, and I truly am. I know how it is, not having a parent there. I hadn't had a mother for nine years, and now I have my mother, but I've lost my father and brothers. Oh well, choices are choices, they know I'm alive and happy with my choice.

"What is a 'pancake' by the way?" He suddenly asks, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Heh, curios?" I ask.

"Very," he answers, playing my game.

"I'm afraid I'd have to cook it," I answer, "and unless I get home, I don't have the ingredients, or the recipe. Sorry Hotohori," I say, giving him a lopsided smile, "I promise that they're really good though."

"You'll have to make some, if you manage to find the things necessary to do so. I'm sure once we find them, the other warriors would agree with me," he smiles reminding me of the journey we have ahead of us.

"That's an awfully long time to go without Dave's pancakes," I sigh shrugging my shoulders, "Oh well, my fault for being as curious as a kitten… Do you know what they say about curiosity Hotohori?"

"That it isn't a sin?" he asks.

My turn to blink owlishly. An almost perfect quote of something that won't be penned for quite a long time.

"Well, there is that," I say nodding, "But they also say that it killed the cat."

"I'm not sure I like that saying," he admitted.

"Satisfaction brought it back," I say reassuring.

"Lucky cat," Hotohori smiles.

"Stupidity killed it again though," I smirk.

"Oh dear, poor thing," he clucks, "are you, perhaps saying this from experience?"

"Ehhhh not sure about that one just yet. I'll keep you posted," I say, "My cat however," I start looking at him exasperated, "is an expert on the subject of getting into all kind of trouble, before crying to mommy to help him… Mommy being me."

He laughs at the antics of a small animal, "and why would he call to you for aid if he got himself into the situation?"

"Because he's a kitten," I say, "And because I'm the only one who listens… I quite like cats actually, but I wouldn't say no to a dog either, so I guess you could say I'm an animal person."

"And what about birds?" Hotohori asks, and I get the feeling that he's referring to Suzaku right now, not something as simple as a parrot.

"My mom's parakeet sucked," I say, "but most other birds are okay, so long as they don't bite me," I nod, catching what he was really asking.

He nods, and the table goes into a comfortable silence. In between trying the different foods, and sipping the bitter tea, I find I like his company. For once, I think I enjoy breakfast that isn't Dave's pancakes.

A knock sounds at the door and Hotohori stands.

"I'm afraid that my royal duties are calling me, Sam," he says looking guilty, "With any luck, We shall have the most likely people to be warriors in the capital here by midday. If you would join me then," he finishes, adopting the royal we.

"Alright, what should I do in the meantime?" I ask not sure what to do with myself.

"Whatever you wish to do, Our duties will make it all but impossible to visit you until midday. We will be sure to send someone for you then."

"Ok, I guess I'll just chill out in my room and read a book."

"We thought you could not read the language of this land?" he questions curiously.

I pull my iPod out of my pocket, "There's an app for that," I answer, pointing at my Kindle app, "I'll entertain myself with something."

He blinks and smiles, "May We suggest reading in the garden? It is very beautiful this time of year."

"Alright, I'll be sitting under the oak tree by the pond. If anyone asks, I'm there." I smile, excusing myself and heading to my destination.

This day can just keep getting better, okay Suzaku?

* * *

Sorry for the wait~ I've been busy. But hey, it's almost my birthday, so calm down a bit ;D I probably won't have anything out by my birthday... And I've just looked at the time and remembered that I have to be up early tomorrow for work... No rest for the wicked. I'm betting you can ALL guess who the lady that thinks very errrrrrr 'Highly' of Samantha is. But you'll have to wait for next time I'm afraid, hopefully, it won't take me an age and a half to update like it did today.

Stay amazing!

~StillcaresaboutNerding.


End file.
